How to hit iron shots better, more solid and consistently with a very simple golf tip http://www.theartofsimplegolf.com/free for ultimate golf lessons free. Alex Fortey …

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You can become more consistent and able to fix your bunker mistakes almost immediately. You can stop wasting your time on the golf course worrying about hitting the golf ball into the bunker.

Today you are going to learn the correct golf swing to getting your ball out of the bunker the first time and onto the green.

You need a sand wedge with at least 56 degrees of loft. You also need to ensure the bounce on the back of the wedge is not too high. The loft will help get the ball up and over the lip of the bunker and the bounce will ensure the golf club glides through the sand.

Having the correct set-up is extremely important when hitting a good bunker shot.

The first set-up position is that you must position the golf ball needs to be across from the inside of you left heel. In other words, the golf ball must be forward in your stance.

The second set-up position is that your knees need to be slightly flexed with your feet width apart. One important note is that you should not dig or bury your feet into the sand. You only need to wiggle your feet a little bit into the sand because you do not use your feet, your knees, your hips, or your legs.

The third set-up position is to bend at the hips just as you would if you were hitting a pitch shot.

The fourth set-up position is that seventy percent of your weight should be on your left foot. The handle of your golf club should be press forward and crossed past your belt buckle.

Lastly, make sure you keep you chin up.

Contrary to popular belief, your alignment in the bunker is the same as any other golf shot. Your feet, your knees, your hips and your shoulders should be aligned parallel just left of your target. If you open your stance, the golf club will come from the inside instead of an up and down motion. The club will not be vertical enough and you will often end of sculling or shanking the golf ball.

Since you are using a golf club with a lot of loft and since you will be hitting the sand first you will need to take a full golf swing. Taking a full golf swing will provide enough force to get the ball out of the sand. You need to swing the golf club up and down and along your shoulder line. You should not turn your shoulders when making your bunker full swing. The backswing uses your arms and hands only. Your right shoulder will have more of a tilting motion than a turning motion.

Start the golf club back with your arms and hands working together. Swing your arms up and down your bodyline. Your hands should swing past your shoulder line at the top of your backswing. You are trying to hit the ball up and not out. If you hit the ball up, the ball will come out. As the shaft is parallel to the ground the right arm and wrist begins to fold or bend. Your left arm lasts to stay straight.

The first move in the downswing is to begin straightening your right arm. This will give you the necessary club head speed to get the ball up and out of the bunker.

As you begin the downswing, your right arm will unhinge and your right shoulder will follow. The arms and hands should swing back down on the same path as the backswing. Your right shoulder starts to turn and your hips start to open as the club head makes contact with the sand. If you do not open your hips the club head will stay in the sand and you wit hit a fat shot. Do not slow down your swing as you approach the sand.

After the club head enters the sand, the left hip needs to turn out of the way so the club has some place to swing. As your left hip turns out of the way, your arms will continue to the 10 o'clock finish and your belt buckle will be pointed at the target.

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Source by Rick Byrd

Learn to swing with your body with a simple connection drill from Ben Hogan! Pre-order the My Swing Evolution Golf System here 30 percent discount!

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HOVER the driver for LONGER STRAIGHTER drives- In this weeks On Course Tip, we discuss the benefits of hovering the driver at set up to see if this could …

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A good golf swing starts with a strong base of support (hips, pelvis and lumbar spine). A highly qualified base of support will provide stability throughout the swing and allow forces to be effectively transferred from the legs through the hips to the upper body to produce optimal power and control. A strong base helps protect the joints and other supporting tissues against the strong compression, shear and torsion forces that occur during the golf swing. Unfortunately, there are a number of factors that predispose the golfer to developing poor postural patterns and muscle imbalance that result in a weak base of support.

For much of our young lives we were stuck sitting in school hunched over our desk. We finish school and begin our careers. Many of us now find ourselves spending excess time in our cars or sitting in poorly designed chairs hunched in front of a computer. Over time we are conditioned to have tight hip flexors and a lazy posture. Poor posture and muscle imbalance decrease musculoskeletal efficiency and disruption communication within the neuromuscular system. Short tight muscles display a lower activation threshold, meaning they fire at times when they should be less active or inactive. Over activation of dominant muscles leads to decreased neural control to their opposing muscles. Simply stated, "when one muscle becomes tight and overactive its opposing muscle becomes loose and lazy." Tight dominant hip flexors create weak and lazy hip extensors (gluteals) and set off a chain reaction of dysfunction.

Tight hip flexors pull the pelvis into a forward tilt leading to an excess curvature of the lumbar spine. As a result the muscles of the abdominal wall ligthen and weakened while the muscles of the lumbar spine get short and tight. This pattern also causes disruption in our body's lateral stabilization system. The hip abductors (muscles that move the legs away from the center of the body) along with their opposing adductors (muscles that move the legs toward the center of the body) work to stabilize the pelvis during lateral movement. Inefficiency in this lateral stabilization system inhibits coordination and hinders proper weight shift through the golf swing. So what we are left with are weak hip extensors (gluteal muscles) that can not drive the hips through the swing, dominant hip flexors that will not allow the hips to open to allow a full turn, tight spinal flexors that are forced to do the work of the weak hip extensors, but are to tighten to make a full rotation, and a lack of coordination needed to make consistently good ball contact. To make matters worse most golfers spending hours at the driving range reinforcing and strengthening this dysfunctional pattern. Is it any wonder the average golf score has not dropped in decades?

To break this pattern of dysfunction and build a strong base of support we must first establish coordinated muscle firing along the deep stabilizing abdominal musculature, the hip flexors and extensors, hip abductors and adductors, and spinal flexors, extensors and rotators. This is accomplished through the activation and strengthening of weak and inhibited muscles, and stretching the tight and dominant muscles. Once these muscles are re-educated and coordinated muscle firing is established we can then work to build optimal strength and power.

The first step in this process is the development of the deep abdominal and pelvic musculature. This is done by mastering the abdominal brace. The abdominal brace differs from the traditional abdominal training that encourages "abdominal hollowing" aka the "draw in" maneuver. With the "draw in" maneuver we are told to pull or draw our belly buttons towards our spines. Research has shown that drawing in actually lessens abdominal activation and decrements lumbar – pelvic- hip stability. The abdominal brace is an isometric contraction of the abdominal muscles meaning the abs are either folded in nor pushed out. This maneuver should be the first step of every exercise as it is the foundation of lumbar, pelvic, and hip stabilization. The following exercise will allow you to master this movement and re-educate the lower abdominal wall and allow the deep pelvic stabilizers to fire efficiently.

Abdominal Brace

o Lay in a supine position (on your back) with knees bent and feet flat on the floor.

o Brace your abdominals by tightening abdominals as if you were going to take a punch in the gut.

o Return to a relaxed position and repeat.

Tips

o Control Movement is the key. While performing these exercises pay strict attention to NOT allow the use of the legs (hip flexors and / or gluteals) while contracting the abdominals. The only muscles contracting are the abdominal wall; place your hands on the belly button to feel this isolated contraction

o There should be no tension in your neck or shoulders.

Do not limit the abdominal brace to exercise. Practicing the brace with all activity (sitting, walking, driving, golfing, etc) will help you develop the endurance your abdominals need to maintain a strong base of support as well as a healthy back.

A study presented by researchers at the American College of Sports Medicine's 51st annual meeting showed that golfers who possess strong hip muscles have lower handicaps and longer driving distances than those with weak hip muscles. This makes sense since muscles of the hip and pelvis play a major role in stabilizing the trunk and transferring forces from the lower body through the upper body and arms during the golf swing. The ability of the hip extensors (gluteals and hamstrings) and lumbar extensors to fire in concert also allows the body to react to and counteract the rapid rotational forces of the golf swing. The problem here, as we have already discussed, is many golfers have inhibited hip extensors and tight and dominant lumbar flexors. Under the best of circumstances our spines were not designed to swing a golf club. Now we compound the issue repeatedly forcing our spinal muscles to do the job of our hip extensors to power through the swing. Spinal extensor muscles do not have the size or strength to do this, since the tremendous incidence of over use injury and lower back pain among golfers. So, what we need to do is quite down our lumbar extensors to allow the hip extensors to do their job.

The Bird Dog exercise progress effectively helps develop stabilization, coordination and strength of the spine. The key to this type of exercise is learning and then maintaining "neutral" spine. Neutral does not mean straight, it means allowing the natural curves to be present. This is imperative to allow the spell to function properly and move to occur in a stress free manner. The golf club placed the length of the spell is an excellent cue that allows the golfer to feel the proper spatial positions and make necessary corrections. The club shaft should be in contact with only three points; the base of the head, the center of the back and the middle of the pelvis. Concave spaces should be seen at the neck and lower back.

Dog 1

o Position yourelf on your hands and knees with a golf club placed along your spine; make sure the rod contacts 3 points only (head-middle back-pelvis).

o Brace your abdominals and slowly raise one hand and the opposite knee just off the floor (no more than 1/4 inch). Hold for five to ten seconds.

o Return to the start position and alternate sides.

Tips

o The club must remain in contact with all 3 contact points (head, mid back, pelvis).

Once you have mastered the Dog 1 then you can move to the next progress. Dog 2 adds the components of hip extension and shoulder flexion. This exercise is extremely effective in re-establishing efficiency in extensor chain (hip, lumbar, and cervical extensors).

Dog II
o Position yourelf on your hands and knees with a golf club placed along your spine; make sure the rod contacts 3 points only (head-middle back-pelvis).

o Brace your abdominals, slowly extend one arm (thumb up) straight out in front of you and the opposite leg behind you.

o Hold for five to ten seconds and repeat with opposite side.

Tips

o The club must remain in contact with all 3 contact points (head, mid back, pelvis).

o Do not allow your hips to rotate.

The key with Dog 2 is not to allow the lumbar extensors to fire during this movement. After mastering Dog 2 you can then further challenge the hip extensors by adding the bridge exercise. The bridge adds the resistance of body weight to the hip extension movement and further challenges (and strengnthens) the deep stabilizers or the lumbar-pelvic-hip complex.

The Bridge

o Lay on your back with your arms placed at your side.
o Brace your abdominals and squeeze your gluteals (buttocks) then raise your hips into a bridge position. Pause and return to starting position.

Tips

o Your feet should remain flat.

o This movement is initiated with the hips not the spinal extensor muscle; no pressure should be felt in the lower back.

o Maintain abdominal and gluteals muscles contraction through the full movement.

It is important to implement a good stretching program to ligthen tight muscles as you strengthen your base of support. Aside from the already mentioned hip flexors and lumbar extensors other areas commonly tight among golfers include the muscles of the hamstrings, neck, scapular elevators (upper trapezius and levator scapulae) and shoulder internal rotators. A qualified strength and conditioning or golf fitness professional can provide you with a postural and biomechanical analysis that can provide a more detailed picture of your specific areas of need. Improving your base of support will add distance and control to your game and help prevent, reduce, and possibly eliminate golf related pain and injury.

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Source by Bill Scibetta

Almost all good golfers have great lower body action, even if they may look a little different from one another. In these two videos Chris Ryan takes an in depth …

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GET MY “STRIKE PURE IRONS” TRAINING: ▷ https://scratchgolfacademy.com/ssf This video is about Brooks Koepka Golf Swing Analysis (Slow Motion) + Golf …

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Golf course managers have the difficult responsibility of keeping their fleet of golf carts, course mowers, trucks and sand haulers running smoothly year to year. As these items experience wear and tear it is important that they are maintained so that they last as long as possible. Funding is not always available to replace bad equipment at a moments notice. Extending the life of your equipment is possible through proper oiling, electrical testing and cleaning. When major problems start to occur in areas like engine performance, it is not necessary to feel that the cart or mower is done for. Repowering the engine using a rebuild kit is an economic solution for extending the usability of equipment for several more years to come.

You can reduce the long-term costs of golf cart repairs and replacement by opting to "repower" your golf carts with small engine rebuild kits by manufacturers like Briggs Stratton, Cushman, Kohler, and Honda. The manufacturers of these small engines have designed them to withstand both heavy workloads and light depending on the amount of use. These small engines come in a wide assortment of sizes, available horsepower, and different transmission set-ups, to meet all of your power needs. These engines also use a variety of sources such as gasoline, diesel, and electricity from batteries for their power. This makes them quite adaptable to the course-specific needs of every golf course.

The largest manufacturer of air-cooled gas-powered engines is Briggs Stratton. A Briggs Stratton small engine is durable even under the harshest of conditions and does not require a lot of maintenance to stay in peak running condition.

Many golf courses utilize equipment by Cushman, who creates small engines for the Cushman Truckster and Cushman Haulster. The Cushman Truckster small engine can provide a golf cart with all the power it needs to traverse rugged terrains with the weight of passengers and equipment on board with ease. The Cushman Haulster is also built to handle heavy loads.

The Kohler line of small engines for repowering golf carts are compact but durable and provide optimum power. These engines are built for longevity.

Honda small engines power motorcycles, boats, and go-carts in addition to lawnmowers and golf course equipment. These engines are sturdy and can handle whatever task is put to them.

These manufacturers are well-respected small engine builders that have reputations for producing quality products. By using a repower rebuild kit that uses one of these engines, golf course managers will get quality power, a sturdy machine that will stand up to the rigorous demands placed on them with less maintenance required, and a comparatively inexpensive solution to replacing equipment. You will find these engines are a cost-effective choice for the other equipment used for the maintenance of golf courses such as seeders and mowers.

Golf course managers have the difficult job of keeping the fleet of carts and mowers running smoothly for a long period of time. By repowering them existing fleet when needed, they can save money on buying all new carts and still get the same tough, sturdy, dependable running engines that expect from top brand small engine manufacturers.

~ Ben Anton, 2008

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Source by Ben Anton